JUICYAn army of two

This hip-hop duo met as young girls while studying in the jazz conservatory of Brussels. Julie and Sasha live are an authentic adrenaline rush. This year, they’re returning to the island to turn it on its head. You can’t miss them.

What do you guys have planned?
For now, we haven’t planned too many things, but we are so grateful to have so many concerts! We have two EP and we are currently working on a new album. What we want to do is bring our audience something new. Our music is rooted in hip-hop and pop music, but with a jazz harmony and classical fixes in some songs. Playing live is the most important for us.

Both of you have classical training. What were your musical beginnings?
Our parents are artists, so we started playing music at a very young age. We have the same background. When we were four, we started learning classical piano. During our teenage years, we had different bands and then we met at jazz school. Jazz helps a musician to analyze the music on a larger scale.

Does the name Juicy have anything to do with the Notorious BIG song?
Definitely not! We chose this name when we did covers and we actually never played Juicy by Notorious BIG. We were looking for a short, catchy name and we decided to keep it for our own music!

Your video “Count Our Fingers Twice” is a total feminist manifiesto. Does your music need a message?
Indeed it is. This first song was kind of a response to all of the versions we chose about sexist characters. Count on your fingers twice is the opposite situation. We made (with a lot of humor) men the sexual object. Our first EP is about women, their relationship with men and society. And yes: our music needs a message. As artists in 2019, art cannot lack sense. Whether you are on stage in front of 10 or 10,000 people, you have to defend something. Art is a link between people and society. We have to say something strongly.

Live you guys play all sorts of instruments, even electronic percussion. How do you prepare your shows?
We work a lot! In the beginning, our voice was our first instrument. But we wanted there to be just two of us and we wanted to play everything imaginable. We believe that it is important to give a good concert. It is sad that nowadays, many concerts only involve a DJ and a chorus. We want to control the show.

How many instruments do you play?
We both sing and we both play keyboards. Julie plays the SPD (electronic drum kit) and Sasha plays the guitar. We would love to have more arms to play more instruments – haha!

Your songs have pop structures. What is your composing process?
We write everything together, both music and lyrics. We have a different type of process: sometimes one of us starts a song on a computer (we work with Ableton or even Garageband), with the first verse and then the other one takes control and completes it with a chorus. Sometimes we start a song with a guitar or a piano and we look for chords and melodies together! After this writing process, we work with different producers (like Samuel Spaniel, Jim Henderson, Lucida Grande...) who make our songs ̈heavier ̈.

What do you admire about each other?
Musically speaking, we are truly connected. Everything is so fluid between us, and that is awesome. We never fight or disagree. We also have a beautiful friendship! For that reason, we believe ourselves to be the perfect team!